A room-by-room approach to recycling

January 20, 2013

One way to think about recycling – and to organize recycling efforts for greater effectiveness – is to look at the way you live, room-by-room. What we do in a given space generates the same kind of reusable or recyclable material in the same way time after time. Considering what's left over in your kitchen, laundry or home office can be one way to help reduce what you're sending off to the landfill week in and week out.

Across all the rooms, a basic consideration is a method used by your local municipality to gather recyclables. "You may have to separate glass, plastic and paper," said Rich Niesenbaum, biology professor and director of sustainability studies at Muhlenberg College. "If they take commingled waste, you need just a single container and it's much easier."

KITCHEN

Heidelberg Township resident Teena Bailey, an avid recycler for nearly 30 years by her estimate, says her kitchen is the center of her efforts.

Bailey keeps another bin handy for the plastic and glass waste her family generates. She also recycles steel and bimetal cans through the township – all of these materials can be sent to the local curbside program for commingled items. Aluminum cans – both the small and light types like cat food containers and beverage cans – are separated, accumulated in a barrel in her garage, and redeemed for cash later at a commercial recycling center. The commingled materials are emptied periodically into dedicated garbage cans and put out for pickup every other week.

She also cuts down on trash from the kitchen through diligent composting. Fruit and vegetable scraps and parings (but not meat products or animal fats) are placed in a backyard composter, where they produce helpful soil amendments for her garden.

"We make it our goal to put out as small an amount of trash as possible," she said. "We pay by the bag, which makes it an extra incentive. But for me the idea of throwing things away is just something I can't see."

HOME OFFICE

Most home offices spawn an endless stream of paper – much of it destined to be disposed of. Keeping a container handy for that waste is a simple way to make sure you remember to recycle it. This is also a convenient place to deal with junk mail. "I start by dealing with the mail as soon as it arrives. Bills to pay and things that must be filed are taken to the office. The rest goes into a paper bin" – once she's removed the name and address.

Taking care of worn-out electronic equipment is more challenging – but in most communities, there's a good way to manage it. Thomas Dittmar, Northampton County environmental conservation coordinator, warns that after January 24 it will be illegal to put used electronics in the trash. These materials contain lead and other metals that can leach into groundwater at the landfill. Many municipalities now manage recycling events where residents (and sometimes others) can turn in their dead computers and much more.

"At our collection events last year, people brought in 278,049 pounds of electronics," Dittmar said. "They also gave us 53,280 pounds of air conditioners, dehumidifiers and refrigerators. It's so important to keep all that out of the waste stream." Some private companies also provide such services. For instance, AERC (which has assisted in operating previous Northampton County events) runs a homeowner drop-off from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Friday at its Comcycle subsidiary, 2330 SW 26th St. in Allentown. In addition to electronic devices of all kinds, which are accepted at no charge, the location takes in batteries and fluorescent lamps, which should not be discarded in ordinary trash.

BATHROOM

Shampoo bottles, toilet paper wrappers and the like don't amount to a lot of volume. Instead of keeping separate bins in the bathroom (where space is often at a premium) it's probably easiest just to carry recyclable waste to the temporary storage you've already set up in another part of the house. One kind of waste that should be kept out of the waste stream altogether is unused pharmaceuticals. The federal DEA sponsors periodic "take-back days" for unused prescription drugs, which shouldn't be discarded or flushed. The next one is scheduled for April 27. Information on locations may be available as the date approaches from municipalities or from the website http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/.